David Bainbridge's Comments

Didn't Renewable Energy world have an article a month ago or so saying what a "scam" Walmarts solar initiative has been? It has been all a PR marketing stunt with little to no actual impact. Their percentage of energy produced by RE pales in comparison to others like IKEA and yet the president is rewarding them with even more PR?

The nuclear industry conveniently doesn't mention the Price-Anderson Act. If there was a catastrophic nuclear power accident it would be the U.S. tax payer footing the bill, not the nuclear industry. It even protects them from gross negligence and willful misconduct. How is that fair?

Are utility companies in the US still able to require homeowners to get a "million dollar" insurance policy before connecting to them? Please provide any references if you know the answer one way or the other.

The problem with the liability insurance is that as long as you are using grid-tie approved equipment I don't see why it is necessary. None of that equipment would ever have been approved if there was any change of it failing to cut the power when the grid is down. The manufacturer would be at fault, not the homeowner. My local co-op allows diesel generators to be remotely triggered on to feed back into the grid without special liability insurance, but for solar power they do.

"Because the wiring was the cause", isn't that the point though? It had nothing to do with the grid-tied equipment. It was faulty installation. You can have houses burn down with shoddy installations of any kind of electrical service.

What about PV manufacturers like Kyocera who states "Kyocera's solar modules are the first in the world to have been certified in the Long-Term Sequential Test that measures a module's durability and reliability. The new test was carried out by TUV Rheinland, a third-party organization that certifies the safety and quality of a wide range of products." Is this a way some manufacturers are proving they aren't cutting corners?

Your statement about Wyoming being the first STATE to grant women the right to vote is incorrect. Wyoming did not even become a state until 1890! So it should say the first territory which later became a state in 1890.

Sorry but the Greenpeace report was full of shoddy research. They simply "guessed" what the power requirements should be for a datacenter. Apple has publicly stated that the datacenter in North Carolina will be powered 80% by renewable energy and the new one they will be building in Oregon will be 100% powered by renewable energy. I would not be surprised if Apple actually releases their energy usage and renewable energy generation in the future.

Greenpeace has done more harm then good by ridiculing companies that are actually making a difference. Greenpeace was also the one on their yearly report on toxins in computers that gave Apple a poor score even though they were the only ones actually doing anything about it. How many other companies are using PVC free power cords? What about BFR free flame retardants? They gave high marks for Dell for instance because they SAID they were going to do something (and NEVER DID!). Instead they pick on high-profile companies whether they deserve it or not so they can make front page on some news website.